The scene was played in Auckland and Martinborough simultaneously: screams of surprised delight when Shoshana McCallum’s short form series INSiDE won an International Emmy Award in November.
Shoshi’s parents Neil and Dawn McCallum, founders of Dry River Wines, shared the proud moment linked up live in Martinborough. Shoshi says “With Auckland locked down, my co-creators Dan Musgrove (co-writer), Peter Salmon (producer/ director), lead actor Morgana O’Reilly, plus other cast and crew were all spaced distantly on the back lawn for the ceremony, hooked up to an online live broadcast of the International Emmy Awards from New York.
“Our producer Liz DiFiore was streaming in live, ready to accept it, just in case! We were all completely relaxed, enjoying the show, as no-one thought we would win. So the moment was pure joy.
“Dan, Peter and I created the series in Level 3 Lockdown with the new game-changing generation Zoom. It was shot over two days under Level 2, mostly in Pete’s house. It’s set in a lockdown: we call it a horror comedy thriller. But it also has a lot of heart.
“It’s really about human connection and how much we need it. A woman, isolating in her bubble, starts experiencing some scary stuff, and it all goes from there. I’m not revealing the show’s secrets,” she laughed. “But you can watch the entire series of INSiDE on NEON, Prime on demand, or Sky Go”.
Graduating from New York’s prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse, Shoshi returned to New Zealand, living in Auckland and busy with writing and acting projects.
“I love both acting and writing, and value the freelancer’s variety.
“We are very grateful to New Zealand On Air, whose funding made the series possible, and Prime for having us on their network. We are delighted their support was ‘repaid’ with such success,” she concluded.
